Hey...Hoover resident here, which is a suburb of Birmingham. You've got a couple of lake options in a reasonable distance.

We're on Smith Lake. It's 45-60 minutes northwest of Birmingham. Dam-made lake, not very wide, but a lot of coves/fingers. Very deep (100-300'). Very clean. Some areas of the lake have a lot of houses, some areas undeveloped yet. Medium to heavy crowds on weekends, weekdays pretty quiet. You'll see a lot of pontoons, deckboats, and some wakeboats.

Several other choices nearby. Lake Martin is a bit farther - maybe 1.5 hours away. A bit bigger than Smith. We haven't spent time on it. Basic reputation is that its more popular and a bit more of a party lake, although I'm sure there are some quiet areas.

Additionally, there is Lay Lake and Lake Logan-Martin (which I think has had some real water level problems lately).

I second Smith Lake. Beautiful. There is also Logan Martin about 45mins North East, but there are several shallow spots and you really need to know that lake. Not sure when you are planning on coming to Bham, but Logan Martin level is still down but should be back up to full pool in the next couple months. There is also Lake Mitchell about an hour South. It is very similar to Lay Lake which is also about the same distance, maybe a little closer. There are plenty of deeper spots but there is also a good bit of boulders under water. My personal favorite is Lake Martin, which is about an hour and a half away. It has plenty of deep water and is marked pretty well. The level is still down right now about 3.5' from full pool, but plenty deep enough to run a boat. At full pool avg depth is 41' and there are plenty of public ramps. Just be aware that this lake is pretty large and you may need to take a GPS with you or someone that knows the lake. If you come in the next few months, I would be happy to show you around Martin. There is also Lake Tuscaloosa, but I really do not know anything about that lake other than it is about an hour and a half give or take away from Bham. All in all, you have plenty of great choices in the area.

we like smith lake. i guess the biggest downside is that is more of a huge river system. the lake has tons of shoreline, but i don't think there is any point where you can't see shore. on the plus side, its very deep and very clean and except for holiday weekends, you can usually find decent water. martin is a probably more prestigious as that is where the "old" money in birmingham goes to buy a multimillion dollar lake house. to me the biggest downside to lake martin is fighting the traffic on highway 280 that connects bham and auburn. smith lake and logan-martin both have interstate access from bham.

on a personal note, maybe i don't want you at smith. your great new interior will make my old x30 look bad. its bad enough there's a guy on here with a new x30 on smith.

Well, it looks like I may either be in the B'ham or Huntsville area now. I work for the military and I have been in the Tennessee area for quite a long time now. I'm ready to head a little further south and try and get another month or so out of my boat season.